


we've made it this far

by loveyou3001



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-02-28 06:48:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18751180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveyou3001/pseuds/loveyou3001
Summary: "Sometimes you've gotta run before you can walk"Peter and Harley meet at a funeral and the world tries to recover from what's been lost.





	1. The Funeral

_Don’t cry. Don’t cry, just think about something else, okay? They have enough to worry about without having to think about you._

The sky was unnaturally blue, Peter thought as he looked out over the lake. Five years had passed since he’d seen a sky like this, he realized. He remembered the orange sky on Titan, and the dark, smoke-filled sky from when- He stopped himself. Neither of those were memories he wanted to think about.

Captain America (Steve, as he’d told Peter to call him) was giving some kind of speech about legacies, and how… and how Mr. Stark had devoted his life to saving people, how he was an inspiration to all of us to be better. Peter tried to ignore him. It was almost like listening would mean having to accept that he was gone, that he was never coming back. He wasn’t, though. He wasn’t coming back, and Peter didn’t know how to comprehend that.

“...just wanted to live with his family,” Steve was saying. “He didn’t get to have that. I’ll miss him. We’ll all miss him. And- and I wish it would have been me. But like he said, we don’t always get a happy ending. Tony gave up his happy ending for all of us. He saved all of us. Tony-- he really was Earth’s best defender.”

Peter could have sworn Steve Rogers was crying. That couldn’t be right, though.

Steve, finished with his speech, returned to his place in the small group of people. It was a pretty odd group, consisting of Avengers, SHIELD agents, a few extraterrestrial beings, and some random kid standing in the back. He hadn’t talked to many of them. He’d mostly stayed inside since the battle.

Pepper got up to speak.

“I don’t even know where to start. Tony… he meant so much to me, to all of us. And I know we meant everything to him.”

She continued talking, but Peter couldn’t listen. He looked down at the arc reactor, which was a bad decision on his part. All it did was remind him of… when Mr. Stark had… when he’d… when Peter had seen him on the ground, burned and injured and Peter had been crying, trying to convince himself that Tony would be okay, he’d be fine, and then he’d watched the blue light of the arc reactor fade to black and-- and he was gone. He was- Peter couldn’t fight back tears anymore. He started walking back towards the house, his vision blurry from crying. He can’t- he can’t be gone. He can’t- I should have stopped him, I should have done something. Peter sat on the porch with his head in his hands. _he’s not gone he can’t be gone he didn’t have to do this it wasn’t his fault none of this was his fault he didn’t deserve this I should have done something maybe I could have saved him_

He felt a hand on his shoulder.


	2. Bearer of Bad News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Harley's POV)

As soon as he’d seen Pepper Potts at his front door, Harley knew something had gone wrong. She looked awful, she had cuts and bruises everywhere but what stood out the most was the heartbroken expression on her face. And Tony wasn’t with her. 

_ It’s gonna be fine, this is Tony. He’s Iron Man, he can find a way out of anything,  _ he thought. _ He’s not- _

“Harley?” 

When he heard Pepper’s voice, his hope vanished.

“Tony- he told me-” She looked down, at a loss for how to phrase what had happened. “He’s gone. We’re having a funeral on Monday. He… he wanted you to be there.”

Harley didn’t know what to say, so he hugged her. He hoped she couldn’t tell he was crying.

 

So now he was standing outside Tony’s house, surrounded by Avengers, listening to Captain America himself give a eulogy. Harley felt very out of place. He hardly even knew exactly what had happened to Tony, besides that he had saved the world and now he… now Tony was dead.

To be completely honest, Harley wasn’t sure he should have come. Everyone else here knew Tony in person or had at least worked with him. Sure, Harley had kept in touch with him, but they hadn’t seen each other in person for years. And yet it still broke him to think that he would never see Tony again. He knew it was stupid, but… Tony was the closest thing Harley ever had to a father. And now he was gone.

That’s probably why he was invited, Harley figured. He knew Tony as a person more than as a hero. The world would mourn the loss of Iron Man but he’d miss Tony Stark. 

Unfortunately, his rationalizations had no effect on the feeling that he didn’t belong. Nobody here except Pepper even knew his name. Tony wouldn’t-

Harley realized he’d been half expecting Tony to show up next to him. It hit him again that he was gone, that he wasn’t coming back. Harley blinked away a tear.

_ Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It must be so much worse for everyone else, you hardly even knew him.  _

He couldn’t imagine how Pepper was feeling, and Morgan- Morgan would never see her dad again. 

_ Nobody should have to go through that. _

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking back towards the house. He looked about Harley’s age, but he couldn’t see his face very well. 

The kid sat down on the porch. He covered his face with his hands but Harley could tell he was crying. He felt like he should go talk to him.

_ No, leave the poor kid alone, he probably doesn’t want to talk to anybody. _

Harley walked over to him anyways. 


	3. The Funeral Part 2

“Hey.”

The voice startled him from his thoughts. Peter wasn’t in the mood to talk, but at least it was a distraction.

He took a shaky breath and looked up. The kid he’d seen earlier was sitting next to him. Peter wiped the tears off his face, but he was still half sobbing and felt kind of ashamed for being such a mess.

“I’m Harley,” the kid introduced himself. “...Are you okay?”

Peter ran one hand through his hair. He realized his hands were shaking.

“Yeah, I… I’m fine,” he mumbled, although he was very obviously not.

“You’re lying. Don’t worry, though, I’m not gonna bother you about it.” Harley tried to smile, but there wasn’t any happiness behind the expression. 

Peter tried to take deep breaths, calm himself down. It helped a little. He was sure he was making a great first impression on Harley, he thought sarcastically.

 _Wait, his name’s Harley?_ He remembered a story Mr. Stark had told him once, a long time ago.

“You- you're Harley Keener?” he asked.

“Yeah, actually, how'd you know?”

It hurt too much for Peter to say Tony's name.

"...He told me about you.”

Harley looked a little surprised, but mostly sad when he heard that. “Okay, my turn… you’re Peter Parker?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Peter.”

They sat on the porch for a while in silence while Pepper talked. Peter felt kind of bad for not paying more attention to her but he didn’t want to think about the battle or Tony, or anything, really.

He turned to look at Harley, who looked fine at first glance, but with his heightened senses Peter could tell his breathing was unsteady, and his brown eyes shone with tears.

 

After the funeral, most of the guests went their separate ways. Peter stayed on the porch with Harley. He didn’t know where else to go.

“Are you Peter?” a quiet voice from behind him asked. He turned around to see Morgan Stark looking up at him with wide eyes.

Peter nodded, since he realized saying anything might result in him crying again.

“Daddy kept a picture of you on the wall. He said you got lost out in space and he missed you very much.”

Peter knelt down to Morgan’s height and ruffled her hair, ignoring the tears that threatened to overflow from his eyes.

“Your dad saved my life. He saved a lot of people.”

“I miss him,” Morgan said quietly.

“Me too.” Peter admitted as a tear rolled down his face. “It’s gonna be alright, kid.”

Morgan smiled a little.

As he stood up, Peter noticed Harley was walking away from them.

“Harley?” Peter called after him, but he didn’t answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally revised this chapter so i can move on to the next one


	4. It's Gonna Be Alright, Kid

 

Harley had been waiting on the porch when Morgan showed up and started talking to Peter. She kind of reminded him of--

Anyways, he wasn’t surprised she didn’t acknowledge him, Peter had been more important to her dad anyways.

Morgan said she missed Tony. Peter said he did too.

“It’s gonna be alright, kid,” he told her. Harley stepped back.

_It’s gonna be alright. It’s okay, it’s gonna be alright-_

The words swirled through Harley’s mind like a hurricane.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He’d been sitting in the living room showing his younger sister Grace a machine he was working on. Their mother had been on the couch, reading a magazine.

“Does something feel off to you?” he’d heard his mother say. “I think-”

Both Grace and Harley looked up just in time to see their mother vanish mid-sentence.

“Harley?” Grace turned to him with fear in her eyes. “What’s going on?”

His mind was racing. _I don’t know, I don’t know what’s happening, something’s wrong, what’s wrong, I don’t-_

“Grace, it’s okay. It’s okay, it’s gonna be alright. Just let me-”

Suddenly Harley couldn’t speak, and he looked down at his hands and saw them dissolving into nothing, and his vision went dark and the last thing he was aware of was his sister yelling his name.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She hadn't come back with the rest of them. He hadn’t seen her since. He probably never would again.

 

“Harley?” he heard Peter from behind him.

He hadn’t realized he’d wandered away from the house. Harley cursed under his breath. He was crying and his hands were shaking and he didn’t want anyone, especially Peter, to see him like this.

He pretended not to hear him, hoping Peter would maybe leave him alone. He didn’t, though.

“Harley, where are you going? You okay?”

_Am I okay? I wouldn’t know._

 Harley squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, then turned around to face Peter.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The words sounded slightly more bitter than Harley had intended, but Peter gave no sign that he’d noticed as he caught up to him.

“Are you sure?” Peter asked softly, and Harley was almost tempted to tell him no, he wasn’t, but Peter had enough to deal with.

“Yeah, I just… needed some space,” he lied.

“Oh. Do you want me to leave, then, or…?”

“No, you’re good, do whatever.” Harley sat down in the grass, and so did Peter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've decided it makes more sense if harley didn't get snapped, although that would have allowed for even more painful memories i'd get to write... i may write an alternate version where he survived the snap, but i guess this is how it is for now. anyways, thanks for reading!!


	5. A Message

 

Pepper told him he could stay at the house for a while. Peter gratefully accepted the offer. Even Aunt May agreed it would be good for him to have some time to adjust.

He said goodbye to most of the guests, who were leaving seemed to be getting back to their lives as best as they could, but Peter… just didn’t feel like he was ready to go back to New York.

The whole day he walked around feeling like his mind was filled with dark clouds. Everything Peter saw seemed out of focus and everything he heard sounded far away. He was relieved when he could go inside to the room Pepper had gotten ready for him.

As soon as he walked into the room, Peter was about to lay down on the bed when he noticed a small box laying on the pillow. There was a note on the box that read, “Tony wanted you to have this.”

Peter’s first thought was, _Maybe I should wait to open it._

His resolve to put off opening it until later lasted about two minutes. He sighed, picked up the box, and very, very carefully lifted off the lid. It was a watch, just like… just like the one Tony had given him after he first met him.

 _That’s a cool gift,_ Peter thought, trying to ignore the fact that he knew the watch had another purpose. _It’s a really nice watch._ But Peter knew Tony too well, and there was only one reason he could think of for the shiny gold button on the side. He knew what it was, what he didn’t know was if he’d be able to handle it.

He stared at the button for a few minutes, which felt like hours, and then without meaning to Peter’s hand moved and he pressed it. Immediately, a blue light projected from the watch and the dark room got brighter and the light became Tony.

“Mr. Stark?” he asked instinctively, and regretted it as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Peter knew it wasn’t really him, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to hug the projection, to say “I miss you.”

And then the projection spoke.

  


_“Hey, Peter.”_

Hearing Tony’s voice made Peter feel like he was being crushed under a building. Maybe even felt worse than that. But he kept listening.

_“It’s gonna be okay, kid. I- well, I really hoped you’d never have to see this, but if you’re watching it, and I’m… and I’m not around anymore, I hope we won. I hope you’re okay, or at least as much as you can be. As long as you’re here to even get this message, well that’s a miracle in itself._

_I feel like I should give you some type of advice here, but I’ve never been the best at that, and- actually, here’s something. A wise man once told me, “don’t waste your life.” Not- not that I think you would, but what I mean by that is, don’t spend time feeling sad or guilty- because none of this was your fault, I promise you that- about anything that ends up happening. Especially if- if I don’t see you again. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I mean at least metaphorically speaking-- I guess what I mean to say is that if you and Pepper and Morgan and everyone else are alive to see this... I did what I came here to do . It was worth it._

_Look, you’re gonna do great things. You’re gonna be better than I ever was. You know how I know that? I know you. You’ve got a good heart, you want to help people, and that’s what really makes you a hero, more than any suit or superpowers ever could._

_Did I really just say that? That was like, the most cliche superhero movie advice-- I’m not wrong though, I stand by my point._

_I missed you, kid. I tried so many times to find a way to bring you back. It’s… it was part of what kept me going during those five years."_

The projection of Tony was quiet for a minute, which gave Peter time to realize there were tears streaming down his cheeks.

_I know I was probably a terrible mentor, or whatever you want to call it. I made a lot of mistakes, but I care about you. I didn’t want to see you making the same mistakes I did._

_You... you’re like a son to me, Peter. You helped me to be a better person. Thank you for that. And- and if I don’t... get to see you again in person to tell you this...I-"_

Tony’s voice broke, and so did Peter’s heart. (If that was even possible anymore.)

_I'm proud of you, kid. I really am.”_

Just like that, the projection blinked off, leaving Peter alone.

  
  



	6. Not Alone

 

Alone. That was all Peter felt. Completely, irreparably, painfully alone.

He laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, considering replaying the message but he knew it wouldn’t help anything.

His best friends were hundreds of miles away, Aunt May was already on her way back to New York, and Tony was-- Tony was dead. He was gone.

Suddenly Peter felt like he was suffocating, like the walls were closing in on him. He felt like he had when he was on Titan and the atoms in his body were slowly being ripped apart.

_I have to get out of here._

Peter stumbled out of the room, and somehow made his way out the front door. His vision was blurred, probably from tears but he wasn’t sure, his senses were on overdrive and he couldn’t think straight.

He saw somebody standing under a tree- was that Harley? And Harley must have seen Peter too because he ran over to him and grabbed his arm and tried to tell him something but Peter couldn’t make out the words.

“Sorry, I-” Peter managed to say as whatever part of his brain was still working had the vague idea that he might have upset Harley.

“Peter, it’s okay,” he thought he heard the other boy tell him. And then Harley hugged Peter and Peter was crying, his whole body shaking with sobs, and he couldn’t stop.

They stayed under that tree for a long time, Peter’s face buried in Harley’s shoulder as the tears flowed from his eyes until he had none left to cry. Harley didn’t say anything to try and comfort him, but he didn’t let go of Peter until Peter gently pushed him away and sat down against the tree.

“He left you a message?” Harley asked quietly once he could tell that Peter was starting to recover.

“Yeah.” The fog was finally clearing from Peter’s mind.

“Me too.” He couldn't tell exactly how Harley felt about that, but the tone of his voice sounded somewhere between sadness and hope.

Anyways, Harley must have decided it was best to leave that topic alone for a while.

“Want to go inside and get some food or something?” he suggested to Peter.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah i know that basically the entire story so far has been them being sad. i apologize. we're getting to the plot next chapter i promise lol. anyways thanks for reading!!


	7. Life Goes On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was hesitant to update this because the word count was exactly 3000 lol... but here it is

Harley wasn’t sure if he was getting any better. Sometimes he’d go about his day and he’d be pretty okay, all things considered. Then he’d hear something or see something or say something and it would remind him of Grace or Tony and it’d be nearly impossible to stop himself from crying.

Harley tried his best to keep a smile on his face whenever anyone could see him. There were quite a few people still at Pepper’s house, and… that mostly just reminded Harley that he’d never get to see the mechanic again. He kind of wished he could leave, but he couldn’t go back to Tennessee. 

There were a few good things about the house. Unlimited food, great WiFi, a workshop in the basement that Pepper let him use. He would have loved it there under different circumstances. Plus, Peter was still there. Harley hadn’t known him for long, but they’d become pretty good friends. They played ping pong, watched movies, ate meals together, and didn’t mention to anyone else when the other broke down crying. Harley was thankful for the company, and the distraction.

_ Hard times bring people together, I guess. _

Peter and Harley had been watching Star Trek (at Peter’s request) when Pepper had asked if they would be okay with going to New York. She explained that it was because they were reading Tony’s will, and they were mentioned in it.

Harley was more than a little surprised that billionaire, superhero, genius Tony Stark cared enough about some random kid from the middle of nowhere to include him in his will. Then again, after getting that message, he’d realized that maybe he meant more to Tony than he’d thought. Which made him sad all over again.

“I’d be up for it,” he told Pepper, trying to sound at least a little confident, then turned to Peter, who looked like he’d been hit by a metaphorical truck. 

_ You sure you’re okay, Parker?  _ Harley thought. The poor kid hadn’t taken the situation well. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he rarely had any energy. Sometimes he’d smile, although it never seemed real, and he just seemed so tired, Not that Harley could blame him, he just wished there was something he could do to help. But then he’d ask Peter how he was doing, and Peter would always lie, responding with “Fine,” “Good,” or “Pretty okay.”

Peter, after thinking for a minute, responded to Pepper’s question. “Yeah. I think so.” 


	8. 200 Feet Off The Ground

The drive up to New York was long, quiet and gave Peter plenty of time to think. He wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.

Pepper was driving, and didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood. Harley had earbuds in and fell asleep pretty quickly, but Peter had never been able to sleep in a moving car so he just stared out the window. And it made him realize how much things had changed.

They’d drive for a few minutes and things would seem normal, but every once in a while they’d pass the rusting remains of a crashed car. Once Peter even saw what used to be an airplane out in a cornfield. He tried not to think about what had happened to the passengers.

The closer they got to civilization, the more obvious it was that Peter was basically in a post-apocalyptic world. Buildings were rundown, windows boarded up, signs reading “closed” on many of them.

He wondered what it must have been like to have lived through that, half the world disappearing.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“This is it,” Pepper announced as they approached Stark Tower. Peter opened his eyes. He hadn’t been sleeping, but he’d figured it was better to pretend than to have to see how the city, his _home,_ had changed after everything that happened.

Harley sat up, blinked a couple of times. “I thought he sold this,” he said, confused and probably still half asleep.

“Yeah, he bought it back. You know, real estate prices went way down, so it was a great value…” Pepper trailed off.

“Oh.”

It was pretty quiet as they drove into the parking garage.  It was even quieter as they got out of the car and took the elevator up to the 30th floor. Peter was kind of glad no one said anything. The silence meant more than any words could have.

He’d been worried he’d see something that reminded him of Mr. Stark and start crying again, but all Peter felt was… nothing. Compared to how he had been feeling, it was an improvement.

Pepper led them into a fairly large room that was empty except for a podium and a few rows of chairs. Most of the chairs were unoccupied, so Peter figured they were a little early. There was a balcony overlooking the city in the next room, and Pepper had said they could go wherever they wanted. Without saying anything, Peter and Harley decided it would be a good spot to wait.

“I always wanted to see this place,” Harley’s quiet voice broke the silence. “Never like this though.”

“I came here on a field trip when I was 10,” Peter said, “That was the day I decided I wanted to be like Tony Stark someday.”

“Like Iron Man,” Harley mused, and alarm bells started going off in Peter’s brain. _He knows, doesn’t he?_

“Bit of a personal question…” Harley continued, “but you’re Spider-Man, right?”

 _He knew._ “Me? Spider-Man? What, no, I’m just an intern.” Peter tried to protest, but then Harley was leaning just a little too far over the railing and then he was _off_ the balcony and Peter barely had time to activate the web shooter from his watch and jump off to catch him before he realized what was going on.

Peter, hanging from the side of Stark Tower, holding on to Harley’s arm 200 feet above a New York City street, realized he'd just officially revealed his secret identity.

“You’re an idiot. I should have let you fall,” he sighed as he pulled Harley, who looked smug (but just a little shaken from the fall, Peter thought), back onto the balcony.

“Well. since I guess we’ve never introduced ourselves properly,” Harley teased, “Nice to meet you, Spider-Man. I’m Harley Keener.”

“Very funny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter finally  
> *tour guide voice* and here you can see user loveyou3001's inability to commit to writing either a sad or happy story. fascinating!


	9. A Lot To Process

His split second decision to test if Peter was a superhero had paid off. Sure, it was terrifying, plummeting off a building, being caught and then dangling over a busy street, but it hadn’t killed him.

_He’s actually Spider-Man._

Harley’s mind was going a million miles a minute. The adrenaline from free-falling off a skyscraper a few seconds ago wasn’t helping much either.

_Peter is Spider-Man. I know Spider-Man. He didn’t tell me he was Spider-Man. I just fell off a building, but I’m not dead. I just fell off Stark Tower. I’m in Stark Tower. I’m in Stark Tower with Spider-Man because Tony Stark wanted me here. Tony is dead… my family’s probably dead, the world’s a mess, I’m a mess, and I don’t know what I’m doing here._

Of course, he didn’t say any of that, instead making some kind of joke about meeting Spider-Man.

Peter. He hoped he hadn’t upset Peter, realizing he may have just made a huge mistake. Peter hadn’t told him he was Spider-Man, maybe there was some reason for that that Harley didn’t understand. Maybe-

That’s when Pepper came in to tell them the meeting was about to start.

As they walked back into the room with the chairs, Harley tried to read Peter’s expression. Usually it wasn’t very hard to tell what he was thinking, but now… it was impossible for Harley to even get an idea of whether he was sad or angry or whatever else.

Harley wasn’t sure what to do, so he just whispered, “Thanks, by the way.” Hopefully Peter would understand the rest of the message, left unspoken: _I’m sorry, I’m an idiot, I shouldn’t have brought that up if you didn’t want to tell me. I definitely shouldn’t have made you prove it. Please don’t be upset._

He squeezed his eyes shut-- _get out of your head, Harley_ \--and opened them to see the fairly small gathering of people. Apparently, Tony hadn’t (Harley flinched at thinking about the mechanic in past tense) wanted to make this a public affair.

Happy got up to the podium. In a much more serious and professional voice than Harley was used to hearing from him, he began: “Welcome to everyone here. As you know, we’ve gathered for the reading of the last will and testament of the late Anthony Stark…”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to post the second part of the chapter as a new chapter instead  
> anyways sorry i haven't updated for a few days lol


	10. Where There's A Will

  
  


As the will was read, Harley’s thoughts were going in at least six different directions. He was vaguely aware of what Happy was saying, while he scanned the room for faces he recognized, wondered if Peter was mad at him, and tried to forget the reason they were all here in the first place. 

To be completely honest, Harley didn’t know why he was even mentioned in the will at all, he hadn’t thought he was all that important- maybe it had something to do with the message Tony had left him?

_ No, the chances of that are almost none. It’s just wishful thinking, not gonna get you anywhere. _

He heard Peter’s name and Happy’s voice came back into focus.

“To Peter Parker, I leave a sum of 8 million dollars, and the red Ferrari, along with this.” Happy handed Peter a small silver box from the podium. 

_ Whoa.   _ Harley didn’t get the chance to see Peter’s reaction, though, because he was next.

“To Harley Keener, I leave 8 million dollars, the blue Lamborghini, and this.” Harley was given a box that looked identical to Peter’s. “To Peter Parker and Harley Keener I give joint ownership of the California facility, including everything in it.”

Harley was effectively in shock.  _ Did I hear that right? I couldn’t have heard that right, please somebody tell me I heard that wrong, I must be dreaming or something. I don’t- I really don’t deserve this. _

But the silver box in Harley’s hand was undeniably real, just as real as the fact that he was now a millionaire or that he’d been dead for five years, or that Tony was gone. Nothing was right anymore.

He turned to Peter, who looked like he was trying not to cry. Hoping again that Peter wasn’t upset with him, Harley hugged him and Peter didn’t let go for a while.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“I- I don’t understand, why’d he do this for me?” Harley asked Peter once they were back in the hallway, the question meant for  himself as much as the other boy. “I mean, I’m just… some random kid. I don’t deserve any of this.”

“Mr. Stark seems to think you do, and we both know he’s never wrong,” Peter said in a tone that sounded happier than he looked, then his voice turned serious. “Honestly, I feel the same way too. I just… this is his stuff, you know? I shouldn’t have it, it’s not mine to begin with, and I’ll never be as good as him.”

The silence that followed was interrupted by Happy, who came with a message. “I’ve been instructed to tell you two that whatever’s in those boxes won’t work unless you’re at the California facility. Just to let you know.”

At that, he walked away, leaving both Peter and Harley inspecting the small silver cubes, curious what could be inside them.

A few seconds passed, and Harley looked up. 

“Next stop, California, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally finished this chapter! it was a logistical nightmare to write, but whatever lol  
> wow i love harley and peter. hopefully more characters will be introduced soon, though!  
> if you have any suggestions, feel free to comment them and i'll look at them  
> i really wish i had a croissant right now


End file.
